Huntingwm's Link
Wish I knew you were there. I had to leave a smidge before 2 or so. Were you the guy with the camo pack who signed in kinda late, around the time the lobbyists for MSPCA were up there? I was the super handsome guy (ha ha ha) standing on the left wall in a light blue shirt.
It went way longer than I anticipated, hence my having to leave so I could get a few little things done for work, and zip to Ct for a few hours of tree stand time (aka, mental health time).
Overall, it was, I thought, quite positive. I was frustrated listening to the professional lobbyists present (from MSPCA etc). They are clearly very well trained, professionals. Many things they said just frustrated the heck out of me. Especially the 50% unrecovered thing, and saying that hunters put far less money into the economy than the rest of the states citizens. Of course "they" do, there are more of them... If you are talking about wild lands and wildlife restoration for game and NON game species though,it's not even close. Professionals are good at their jobs, and those ladies, if we take our own hunter bias off, presented excellently.
That said, my favorite part, was when the guy on the board asked the MSPCA woman if they were opposed to any day being "off" hunting or if it was just Sunday. He asked something like: "What about if Tuesday was no hunting?" and they had to flex a little to say that they could talk about it (which clearly felt like code for "I cant wiggle out of this with my no one should hunt bias so Ill sound like we could talk about it").
It was interesting when Sen Gobi asked them about private land Sunday hunting, and they wanted that to be a no no too, but seemed to realize they had not leg and converted it to org's like the Trustees of Reservation. Wish you could have raised a hand, because having spent quite a bit of time on Trustees property committees over the years, I know their rule is simple: the donating land owner decides at the sale whether it's open or closed. Many, of the Trustees property's are open to hunting.
Regardless, it did feel positive.
That said, right or wrong, I dont know if the trapping thing will kill the overall bill if they are tied together - any one know the drill there. In other words, is this a "pass the outdoor heritage bill including all the sub bills or it fails" scenario. While I disagreed with the MSPCA etc on the trapping info, that was the bill where I could see the pol's looking a little concerned about cat's and dogs getting hurt and taking away votes as a result...
Overall, I left generally feeling like it's got a shot. I sure hope it passes... but we will see.
You have a month to contact Sen Gobi and be heard, you can bet the lobbyists on the other side of this issue absolutely are, so in your best, most positive, most professional, and reasonable way, let YOUR sens, reps, and Sen Gobi know how you feel about this bill!
One thing I will say though. And perhaps it's my bias as someone who does a fair bit of presenting at professional conferences... I know I caught myself smirking or having a frustrated exhale a few times yesterday. I had to try to can it - especially that dang 50% unrecovered deer rate with bowhunting. FALSE. Anyway, it tweaked me to hear the "hunter" peanut gallery grown and talk under their breath a few times. I know at conferences, whether I'm talking and that happens, or another presenter is talking and that happens, the general consensus is that it's low ball, and often those folks ideas and views are taken down a few notches - like the annoying drunk uncle at a BBQ. I wish those folks on "our side" of this issue could have avoided that, it would have had all of us "looking" even better than our ideas already had.
Also, if any of you know the woman who got up and delivered testimony on her families behalf including her 10 year old daughter and son (age I forget) who provided written statements themselves in favor of the bill... She's (they) are super stars. That was some of the most "needle" moving testimony of the day I thought. Well done!
Too bad hunters, even on this board are also opposed to Sunday hunting.
